1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nozzle apparatus for directing a coolant to an inside diameter rotary blade of a slicing machine which cuts a semiconductor crystalline rod material into slices.
2. Prior Art
A known slicing machine of the aforedescribed type includes an inside diameter rotary blade comprised of an annular thin plate and abrasive grains such as diamond grains deposited on an inner periphery of the plate for serving as an inner peripheral cutting edge. A coolant supply nozzle is located at the central opening of the blade for directing a coolant to the inner peripheral cutting edge during the slicing operation.
In the slicing machine as described above, the position of the coolant nozzle has to be manually regulated during the rotation of the blade. The nozzle has to be moved in each direction of the X-Y-Z axes to be positioned in an optimal location. Such positioning is dangerous since it has to be carried out during the rotation of the blade. In addition, although the positioning in a direction perpendicular to the blade, e.g., in the direction of an X-axis, can be conducted relatively easily, the positioning in a plane parallel to the blade, e.g., in a Y-Z plane, is very difficult, resulting in a lower operation efficiency. This is because the movement of the nozzle in one direction influences the positioning in the other direction since the inner peripheral cutting edge is arcuately shaped.